Too Close For Comfort
by Angelustatt
Summary: Sabbathverse. Set during episode 5.07. In the aftermath of Dean's brush with dying of old age, Sam faces one of his biggest fears. But he doesn't have to face it alone...


_A/N: I don't know how I managed to skip this episode...but anyway, here we go. A little look at what Sabbath went through in that episode... hope it works.  
_

"Dean?" Bobby glanced towards the apartment building, waiting, praying that he received a reply over his cell phone.

Behind him, Sabbath was pacing back and forth in the cramped area in the back, trying to find a way to open the sliding door in front of him. He needed out of this van. He needed to find Dean, needed to help him. Why had they told him to stay in this stupid van? Sabbath scratched at the door again and whined, knowing that Bobby wasn't able to let him out. Not alone. Which meant that Dean was alone right now and in trouble.

Nothing about this hunt had made sense to Sabbath. He understood that a witch was something evil, something that they hunted...but what was a witch to begin with? It was all so confusing and frightening for Sabbath. His pack was in danger and Sabbath had no idea how he was meant to protect it...if he could protect it? Dean wasn't himself, he shouldn't have gone into the building alone.

He wasn't the same Master that Sabbath had known since a pup. Dean smelt funny now and moved like it hurt him to move at all. His Master had gotten old somehow and Sabbath didn't like it one little bit. He couldn't play with this Dean. He couldn't jump up on him without hurting him. This Dean was old and his body was fading fast. It was in his eyes, in the wheeze of his breath, the way he held his arm sometimes when he thought the others weren't looking. But Sabbath had caught it all and it scared him deeply.

Sabbath wanted _his _Dean back before he lost him forever.

"Dean?"

Sabbath looked toward the driver's seat as he heard the urgency and concern in Bobby's voice. His frantic scratching at the door became more and more insistent, before Sabbath tried to grab the handle with his teeth. He'd watched the others slide the door open using it...how hard could it be? Digging in his feet, Sabbath pulled with everything he had...and failed. The door wouldn't budge.

Scrambling back into the front of the van, Sabbath watched Bobby's face, reading the fear in his eyes as he clutched his cell phone tightly. Any sound from Dean at all was all they were looking for now. The silence had every inch of Sabbath tensing up, his senses screaming that something was very, very wrong.

"Dean, you hear me?"

Sabbath edged a fraction closer to Bobby, every muscle coiled tight, every ounce of concentration on the older hunter. Bobby had to make this right, he had to signal Sabbath that Dean was okay. Sabbath looked up to Bobby to do this for him...

"Damn it, Dean!"

And then, just as everything seemed to have gone horribly wrong – Sabbath spotted movement near the apartment building's front doors. His tail whipped to the side hesitantly for a beat or two until the doors opened and Dean stepped out, grinning widely, himself again. He spread his arms in a gesture of _Well? How am I looking? _Before breaking into a silly little gig, jumping into the air and clicking his heels together.

Before Bobby could do much more than stare in disbelief at both the luck they'd had and how stupid Dean looked, he found himself with a large, excited German Shepard scrambling over the top of him and clawing his way out of the open window. "What the hell? Dammit, get the hell off me, dog!"

Dean was back! The real Dean and nothing or no-one was going to get between Sabbath and his master. He launched himself from the van's window, all but flying across the street in huge hurried bounds and knocking Dean on his ass in a sprawl of fur, limbs and wet, excited doggy kisses.

Bobby watched the pair, rolling his eyes as he heard Dean laughing over the excited puppy like yips from Sabbath. "Idjits."

**SVSVSVSVSVSVSVSVSV**

Dean had insisted on celebratory beers when they returned to the motel room. Bobby had stayed for a couple before he left the boys to their own devices and went back to his own room. Sabbath had sat beside Dean on the bed, enjoying belly rubs and back scratches while he listened to his Masters talking about what had happened, how they had beaten the witches and saved Dean. None of it made sense to him, but Sabbath didn't have to understand the words to know that it was Sam who had risked everything for Dean.

It was the early hours of the morning, just before the sun was expected to peer over the horizon and start the day anew, that Sabbath woke up, sensing something had changed in the room.

The front door was slightly ajar, a cool breeze washing through and over Sabbath. He lifted his head from his paws, twisting slightly to look over behind him. Dean was still asleep, buried under the covers. A quick check of Sam's bed however, found it empty.

Sabbath slipped down from Dean's bed, padding slowly and quietly towards the front door. He nudged it open with his nose, inching out enough to sniff his surroundings for danger. There was nothing out in the car park except for the Impala...and Sam, sitting near the door, his knees draw up close to his chest. A beer was hanging loosely in his hand, his watery gaze fixed on some point in the distance that Sabbath couldn't see.

He slipped forward and sat down beside Sam, resting his muzzle on Sam's arm, deep brown eyes watching the younger Winchester for a sign of recognition. Whatever had upset Sam, Sabbath wanted him to know he wasn't alone.

"I could have lost him again tonight, boy." Sam said softly, a hitch in his voice. "All it would have taken, was for those cards to have been dealt another way, for my bluffs to have fallen through...and Dean'd be dead right now. It was too close. I can't lose him again, Sabbath. I can't take that again...I'm not strong enough."

Sabbath licked Sam's face, trying to comfort him. It had been too close. Way too close. Dean could have died tonight...he almost had. That was a fear that Sam was never going to be able to handle, no matter what. How could anyone handle losing someone they loved?

Lifting his head for a moment to look towards the open doorway, Sabbath wondered if he should fetch Dean? Would Dean be able to make Sam happier again? Could anything fix this right now? The whole hunt had hurt everyone that Sabbath loved, in some way.

Bobby hadn't been himself. There was a lot of pain under the surface that Sabbath knew came from being in that metal chair, but Bobby was still Bobby to him. Why didn't that count? Why did they have to keep hurting?

The voice in the church had once told Sabbath to have faith. Faith in what? Sabbath didn't understand but he was willing to put his faith in what he knew. His pack. He had faith that they would hold together and stay strong. It was all he had to hold onto.

Sabbath laid his muzzle back on Sam's arm, watching him with large, sad eyes.

"Come on, boy. It's too cold to sit out here." Sam said after a moment, pushing himself to his feet. There was no point in dwelling on what could have happened. If Sam did that every time they came up against something? He would end up a freaking basket case. He'd played the game, proven that he could hold his own at cards...and had saved Dean. At the end of the day? That was all that mattered.

Slapping his leg, Sam called Sabbath back into the room, closing the door behind them. He checked on Dean before kicking off his jeans and shirt, climbing into bed with nothing but his boxers on. A grimace twisted his features briefly as Sam resisted the urge to scratch his crotch. Okay...so maybe that damn witch had gotten that over him, giving him the Clap.

Sam knew he'd hear about that, long after it was cleared up. Dean wouldn't pass up gold like that. No way in hell.

With a sigh, Sam dragged the covers over himself and looked for Sabbath, finding the dog curled up by the front door, watching it. A smile passed over his lips as he pulled the covers up and let sleep claim him at last, wondering if Dean knew just how much his dog was like him sometimes?

Sabbath glanced back briefly, checking on each brother before he turned his attention back to the door before him, resting his head on his paws. Sabbath couldn't always protect his Masters from what they faced out there...but right here, right now, he could keep them safe from anything on the other side of that door.

He just hoped it was enough...


End file.
